story.news.yahoo.com
Iran dissidents, Nobel prize winner mark fifth anniversary of serial murders
TEHRAN (AFP) - Around 2,500 people gathered in a Tehran mosque to mark the fifth anniversary of the grisly murders by intelligence agents of two prominent Iranian dissidents, voicing renewed calls for justice and a shake-up of the Islamic regime.

The mourners marking the November 22, 1998 murders of Daryush Foruhar and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari included this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who was given loud applause as she entered the mosque.


Many in the crowd chanted slogans including "referendum, referendum", "political prisoners should be freed" and "participation in elections: treason" -- a call for the boycott of next February's parliamentary elections.


There were also brief clashes between the mourners and some 40 members of the hardline Islamic vigilante group Ansar Hezbollah, an AFP correspondent at the scene witnessed.


But police armed with batons were also out in force to prevent any serious violence.


The dissident couple were found dead in their homes, having been repeatedly stabbed, with their bodies left in a pool of blood and facing Mecca.


Daryoush Forouhar, who was 70, had been a minister of labour in the left-leaning government that followed the 1979 Islamic revolution, and went on to be highly critical of the regime as head of the banned-but-tolerated Iran National Party.


The killings were among a number of gruesome murders of anti-regime activists, which authorities here eventually blamed on "rogue agents" from the intelligence ministry.


But the trials of the 10 agents allegedly involved in the killings were held in private, while the main suspect -- then deputy intelligence minister Saeed Emani -- was reported to have committed suicide in prison by drinking hair remover, a development that only raised more suspicions over the killings.


And a reformist journalist, Akbar Ganji, was later jailed after he wrote a series of articles alleging that senior officials had actually ordered the serial killings.


Also among the mourners was Ebrahim Yazdi, the head of the nationalist-religious Iran Freedom Movement. But both he and Ebadi, a prominent women's rights activist and lawyer who has taken on the cases of several dissidents and has angered hardliners here, made no comments to the press.


But Parastoo Foruhar, the daughter of the murdered couple, voiced her bitterness at Iran's judiciary, a bastion of the Islamic republic's religious right.


"The show that Iran's judiciary put on in the name of justice was a double blow against the dead and those left behind," she told the gathering. "It was an oppression of a nation seeking justice."


"The people who objected to this distorted case and insisted on revealing the truth had to pay a very heavy price," she added, pointing to a wave of arrests of dissidents and the shut down of pro-reform newspapers by the judiciary.


The killings, she said, had been exploited as part of "political leverage between rival political groups" while "justice was sacrificed for expediency".


Mohsen Kadivar, the head of Iran's centre for the protection of journalists, said the family had been left with little other choice but to lodge a complaint with the United Nations (news - web sites) High Commissioner for Human Rights.


"Nobody in Iran is listening to the case," he said

Reporters Without boarders
www.rsf.fr
Call for an end to impunity for murderers and those behind serial killings of intellectuals and journalists

Reporters Without Borders has called on the Iranian authorities to break the impunity enjoyed by murderers and especially those who instigated killings, on the fifth anniversary of the serial murders of journalists and intellectuals.

In November and December 1998 several intellectuals and opposition figures were murdered in Iran, including Daryush and Parvaneh Forouhar, prominent liberal opposition figures, Majid Charif, editorial writer for the monthly Iran-é-Farda, writers and journalists Mohamad Mokhtari and Mohamad Jafar Pouyandeh.

A few months earlier Pirouz Davani, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pirouz disappeared without trace and his body was never found. This wave of killings and disappearance led to angry protests in a significant section of the reformist press.

"We have reached the conclusion that highly-ranked figures are implicated in this case, figures whom we cannot challenge. That is why this file is frozen, " said Hossein Ansari-Rad, Iran's head of the Article 90 Commission of Parliament, whose role is to investigate written complaints against the executive, legislature or judiciary.

In January 1999, the intelligence ministry officially acknowledged that some of its agents were implicated in killings and announced the arrest of dozens of suspects. In January 2001, 15 agents of the intelligence ministry were convicted in the Forouhar murder case. Three were sentenced to death and 12 were sentenced to prison terms. Three others suspected of involvement were acquitted.

The case then went to the supreme court, which confirmed the verdict. Only two people were sent to jail for 15 years. As for the Davani case, the authorities never showed any inclination to investigate it further. Those who ordered his disappearance have therefore been guaranteed complete impunity.

There is never any discussion about who were the masterminds behind the killings. A few weeks ago the Forouhar's daughter Parastou told Radio Farda - that broadcasts from outside Iran - that "after five years of the files going two and fro between the different justice departments, there is no chance of a satisfactory outcome. Now we are sure that Iranian justice refuses to investigate this case and refuses to punish the murderers and those behind the murder."

All the families of victims have complained that the question of who instigated the killings has never been raised. Since November 2002, they have been making complaints to international justice organisations. Reporters Without Borders supports these families and hopes that the international bodies will do everything within their power to see that justice is done.

Source> www.theledger.com
U.N. Takes Issue With Iran's Human Rights

The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS
A U.N. General Assembly committee approved a resolution Friday expressing serious concern at human rights violations in Iran.

The Canadian-sponsored draft resolution was adopted by a vote of 73-49 with 50 abstentions. It now goes to the full General Assembly where a similar vote is expected.

The United States and most European countries supported the resolution while Islamic nations opposed it.

The resolution expresses serious concern at "the continued deterioration of the situation with regard to freedom of opinion and expression" and at the use of torture and other forms of cruel and inhuman punishment.

At the same time, it welcomed Iran's invitation to human rights groups in April 2002 to visit the country and the opening of a human rights dialogue with a number of countries.

Before the vote, Iran's representative said that a journalist with dual Iranian and Canadian citizenship had died in Iranian custody, and said it was regrettable. The government has taken all necessary measures to bring those responsible to justice and an inquiry is under way, the diplomat said.

An Iranian intelligence agent has been charged in the murder of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died July 10 after suffering fatal head injuries during 77 hours of interrogation following her June 23 detention.

The Iranian diplomat stressed that the incident involving Kazemi was not enough to determine that there was no freedom of press in Iran.

Iranian hard-liners have jailed several dozen reformist journalists and political activists and closed about 100 pro-democracy publications during the past 3 1/2 years for criticizing the rule of the country's unelected hard-liners.

President Mohammad Khatami, who was elected on promises of introducing social and political reforms to Iran, has said newspaper closures and arrests of intellectuals and writers without trial or in closed, jury-less trials violated the constitution. Hard-liners have ignored his warnings.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: MDE 13/040/2003
News Service No: 263
19 November 2003
Iran: Alarming spiral of human rights violations mar positive steps
Amnesty International shares the concerns of many lawyers and human rights defenders in Iran following the reported sentencing to death by stoning of four men by a court in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.

"Amnesty International recognizes the rights and responsibilities of states to bring to justice those suspected of criminal offences. However, such sentences consist of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment that fly in the face of Iran's unreserved commitment to uphold the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a state party," said Amnesty International.

Amnesty International recommends that judicial authorities commute the death sentences with the aim of identifying an alternative punishment as requested by the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi.

The organization is equally concerned about the reported sentencing of seven women to 50 lashes in Shiraz who allegedly showed disrespect during the month of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting which started on 25 October.

Amnesty International welcomes the limited engagement of the Iranian government with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) envoys who visited the country on fact-finding missions earlier this year.

"However, the organization is alarmed at the consequences faced by vulnerable individuals who have sought meetings with these envoys during their visit to the country," said Amnesty International.

In February 2003, the mother of Sasan Al-e Kena'n went to Tehran to seek a meeting with members of the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. On return to Sanandaj in Iranian Kurdistan, she was told that her son had been executed during her absence and that she should not make a 'fuss' and bury him quickly. In November 2003, Ahmad Batebi, on medical leave from prison, met with the Special Rapporteur for the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. One hour later he 'disappeared'. Officials at Tehran's prosecutor's office threatened him with arrest and later admitted that his son had been re-arrested.

"Judicial authorities in Iran must ensure that those who raise human concerns with either domestic or international bodies are not harassed or threatened with arrest," said Amnesty International.

Background:

Amnesty International has recorded human rights violations including the arbitrary arrest and months of incommunicado detention without charge or trial of Alireza Alijani and other supporters of the Melli Mazhabi (National Religious Alliance); the continued closure of newspapers and imprisonment of journalists on vague charges relating to 'insult' and 'defamation'; the lack of transparent and independent investigation into the death of Zahra Kazemi, the Canadian-Iranian photojournalist who died in custody and the murder, five years ago of Dariush Forouhar and Parvaneh Eskandari (Forouhar) who were murdered at their house by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence in November 1998.

The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly which deals with human rights concerns is considering a draft resolution on the human rights situation in Iran. These concerns include the increased arrest and detention without charge or trial of persons for peaceful expression of political and personal views and the continuing executions without regard to international safeguards and the use torture and other cruel punishments. The draft resolution calls on the Iranian government to meet its human rights obligations, to respond fully to the recommendations made by the UN's human rights experts who visited the country, and encourages visits by other UN experts: notably those with mandates on extrajudicial executions and torture. Taking such steps would, in Amnesty International's views, would greatly contribute to the effective protection of human rights in Iran

Source: www.reuters.com
18 Nov 2003 18:46:23 GMT
Canada revives UN measure rapping rights in Iran

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Canada said on Tuesday it introduced a draft U.N. resolution accusing Iran of human rights abuses, including suppression of free speech, torture and discrimination against women and religious minorities.

The document, obtained by Reuters, was given to members of the General Assembly's human rights committee in hopes of a vote by Friday. Adoption by the panel, which includes 191 U.N. members, is usually tantamount to passage by the assembly.

Among the co-sponsors are the United States, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. More support from Europeans is expected but the 15-member European Union last month, while rebuking Iran on civil liberties, decided not to introduce a U.N. resolution, preferring to maintain a dialogue with Tehran.

The Geneva-based U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted annual resolutions on Iran's rights record from 1984 to 2001 and the assembly followed suit. But last year the draft was narrowly defeated in Geneva and not revived by the assembly.

Specifically, the Canadian resolution calls on Iran, dominated by Shi'ite Muslims, to eliminate religious discrimination against minorities, including Bahais, Christians, Jews and Sunni Muslims.

It expresses concern at continuing public executions, the use of torture and amputation, arbitrary sentencing of political dissidents, suppression of press freedom and systematic discrimination against women and girls "in law and in practice."

Photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian citizen of Iranian descent, died in custody in Iran in June, from a blow to the head, seriously damaging relations between Ottawa and Tehran.

The Canadian draft did not mention her by name but singled out crackdowns by the judiciary and security forces against journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics and academics. It expressed "serious concern" at the "harsh reactions to student demonstrations" such as imprisonment and mistreatment.

Scores of student activists, frustrated with the slow pace of reforms, were jailed during the 10-day pro-democracy protests in June. Only a number of students were released after the supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on the judiciary to exercise leniency.

Iran's powerful Guardian Council, which reviews all legislation to see it accords with Islamic Sharia law, has countered many reforms attempted by President Mohammad Khatami who has warned opponents they were alienating young people.

Source: www.globeandmail.com
Canada pressures UN over Iranian human rights

By JEFF SALLOT
Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - Page A17
Ottawa -- Canada is asking the United Nations to condemn Iran for human-rights abuses, including torture, suppression of news media, imprisonment of political dissidents, and discrimination against women and religious minorities. The Canadian resolution, which could come to a vote at the UN General Assembly in New York later this week, expresses serious concern about how security forces have cracked down against journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics and academics.

Authorities in the Islamic republic are responsible for a deterioration in the respect for human rights, Canada says, especially freedom of opinion and expression of political views. Normally, such resolutions are introduced, debated and voted upon at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva during long sessions in the spring. The Canadian approach with this resolution will bring it to a quicker vote.

Source: www.iranmania.com
Missing Iranian student activist back in prison
TEHRAN, Nov 17, (AFP) -- A prominent Iranian student activist reported missing after he met with a visiting United Nations rights envoy is back in prison, his father was quoted as saying in press reports Monday.

The activist, Ahmad Batebi, was reported by his father to have gone missing on Saturday after meeting the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, who spent a week here on a key fact-finding mission.

Batebi was one of hundreds detained during student-led protests in Tehran in 1999, and a photograph of him holding aloft a bloodstained T-shirt -- a picture that was widely carried across the world -- earned him a death sentence for propagating against the Islamic regime.

His sentence was eventually reduced on appeal to 13 years imprisonment, and he had been on prison leave for medical reasons when he met with Ligabo.

The prison leave had been due to expire on Monday. But his father, Mohammad Baqer Batebi, was quoted as saying he had been informed by Tehran's chief prosecutor -- hardliner Saeed Mortazavi -- that the student activist was now back behind bars.

The father also complained that he himself had been interrogated and threatened with arrest, and said his son then phoned home but had sparked worries about his condition due to the tone of his voice.

Summary of violation of human rights in Iran from July 20, to September 20, 03

Evidence about the wide and continual violation of human rights in Iran
by IHRG
Link

Source: Reuters
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian student jailed for his role in street protests four years ago has disappeared after meeting a senior United Nations official in Tehran, a close relative said Tuesday.

Ahmad Batebi was convicted of endangering national security when he was photographed holding up the bloody shirt of an injured friend during violent student protests in 1999 which were the largest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
A relative said Batebi, who was on a brief furlough from Tehran's Evin prison, Saturday met Ambeyi Ligabo, a U.N. Special Rapporteur charged with promoting free speech.

"After this meeting Saturday, he just vanished," a close relative told Reuters by telephone.

The relative said Batebi was supposed to return to Evin prison Monday afternoon, but he did not show up.

"We called everywhere, his friends, the judiciary and the prison but nobody has any clue about his whereabouts," the relative said.

Judiciary officials could not be reached for comment.

Ligabo, who met 37 political dissidents during a six-day visit to Iran at the invitation of the Iranian government, called Monday for Iran to release all political prisoners.

Source: www.news24.com
Iran student activist missing
11/11/2003 21:18 - (SA)
Tehran - A prominent Iranian student activist who met with a visiting United Nations rights envoy over the weekend has gone missing, the student news agency ISNA reported on Tuesday.

The agency also quoted Iran's prosecutor general, Abdolnabi Namazi, as dismissing the integrity of the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, who spent a week here on a key fact-finding mission.

ISNA said the student activist, Ahmad Batebi, was reported by his father to have gone missing on Saturday after meeting with Ligabo.

The student was one of hundreds detained during student-led protests here in 1999, and a photograph of him holding aloft a bloodstained T-shirt - a picture that was widely carried across the world - earned him a death sentence for propagating against the Islamic regime.

His sentence was eventually reduced on appeal to 13 years imprisonment, and he had been on prison leave for medical reasons when he met with Ligabo. His father told ISNA that his prison leave had been due to expire on Monday, but that he had gone missing on Saturday.

"If I have no news of my son and if the security of my family is not assured, I will contact human rights defence organisations," his father told the agency.

Meanwhile, Namazi complained that Ligabo had raised "secondary and marginal questions" while in Iran, and said he was not expecting a balanced report from the Kenyan diplomat.

"International organisations are generally under the influence of the Zionists who always try to put into question the Islamic republic," Namazi told ISNA.

While in Iran, Ligabo met with a string of officials and dissidents and called on Iran to release all those jailed for press related offences or having merely spoken out against the clerical regime.

He said access to the people he wanted to see had largely been satisfied, and added that a number of prisoners he met had complained of serious mistreatment, notably periods of more than 100 days of solitary confinement.

His report, due for release next March, will be taken into consideration when member states of the United Nations Human Rights Commission decide on whether to forward a resolution condemning Iran.

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